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WARP    AND    WOOK 

THE  STORY  OF 

THE  TEXTILE  ARTS 


BY 

EDTTH  VP:RV,  B.  S. 

DIRECTOR    OF    THE    ALB  \\V    SCHOOL    OF    FINE    ARTS 


I 

THE  LINEN   INDUSTRY 


EDUCATIONAL    PUBLISHING    COMPANY 

BOSTON 

New  York  Chicago         San  Francisco 


Copyright,  191 2 

BY 

EDLXATIOXAL   PUBLISHING    COMPANY 


I  -t«   b3 


CONTEXTS 

I    Historical  Notes 

Eg}pt ,        .  5 

Palestine              ,  8 

Phoenicia                 q 

Greece ii 

Rome     .........  14 

England .  jr 

United  States 16 

II    The  Flax  Plant 

Botanical  Name,  Species,  etc.    ,        .         .         .  in 

The  Spinning  Wheel 20 

Fairy  Tale 3^ 

Weaving ^6 

Looms         ••••....  30 

The  Weaver     (Poem) 42 

III  Processes  of  Manufacture 

Development  of  Machine  Processes,  etc.     .        .  43 

The  Factory ^r 

Bleaching            eg 

IV  Fl.\v  Culture  and  Linen  Manufacture  in  the 

United  States 

Efforts  in  Colonial  Times,  etc 6^ 

Flax  Seed            6-' 

Flax     (A  Fairy  Tale; ^2 


Digitized  by  tine  Internet  Arciiive 

in  2010  witii  funding  from 

NCSU  Libraries 


littp://www.arcliive.org/details/warpwoofstoryoftOOvery 


FOREWORD 

It  has  been  a  pleasure  to  bring  together  for  comparison 
the  primitive  methods  used  in  preparing  materials  for 
clothing  and  the  modern  methods  found  in  the  factories; 
also  to  search  for  the  historical  significance  and  progress 
of  the  knowledge  of  the  art.  For  encircling  this  primitive 
art  may  be  found  many  stories  of  fancy  that  make  what 
otherwise  might  seem  to  be  a  tedious  process  one  of  great 
pleasure.  These  stories  enliven  the  interest  in  the  methods 
and  almost  create  a  desire  for  ability  in  the  craft  itself. 
The  knowledge  of  a  craft  has  a  social  significance  which  is 
recognized  in  educational  circles  as  important  for  the 
adult  as  for  the  child.  Not  only  is  this  recognized  in  the 
manual  training,  but  also  in  the  new,  so-called,  household 
arts.  If  the  text  brings  to  the  student  or  reader  an  eager- 
ness to  share  a  larger  interest  in  the  historical  value  of 
the  knowledge  of  the  craft  or  a  personal  desire  to  have 
a  share  in  the  production  of  the  material  as  a  craft,  this 
little  volume  will  bear  a  true  message  from 

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THE  LINEN  INDUSTRY 


HISTORICAL  NOTES 
Egypt 

Linen  is  one  of  the  most  interesting  of  textile 
fabrics  because  its  history  can  be  traced  four 
thousand  years,  and  because  the  flax  fibre, 
from  which  linen  is  made,  undergoes  many  and 
varied  processes  in  the  manufacture  of  the  white 
and  glistening  material,  honored  by  all  men 
and  nations. 

In  tracing  its  history,  the  monuments  on  the 
banks  of  the  Nile,  and  scriptural  records,  yield 
the  most  authentic  accounts  of  its  early  use 
and  manufacture. 

Egypt  was  famous  for  her  beautiful  products 
of  fine  linens;  at  one  time  the  chief  and  most 
profitable  article  of  commerce.  Reproductions 
of  the  drawings   in  the  tombs  of  Beni-Hassan, 


6  The  Linen  Industry 

show  the  processes,  from  the  sowing  of  the 
seed  to  '  the  finished  niece  of  cloth.  ("  The 
Ancient  Egyptians,"  J.  Gardner  Wilkinson, 
Chapter  IX.)  One  of  the  most  interesting 
instances  of  the  use  of  linens  is  found  in  the 
wrappings  of  the  mummies,  large  quantities 
being  used  in  embalming  men  and  animals; 
varying  from  the  coarsest  texture,  like  sail 
cloth,  to  the  finest  quality,  which  requires  a 
microscope  to  discern  the  flax  fibre.  Fine 
examples  are  seen  in  the  museums,  which 
testify  not  only  to  the  quality,  but  to  the  beau- 
tiful color  designs  woven  in  as  borders.  The 
mummy  cloths  vary  from  a  few  inches  to  one 
yard  in  width,  and  sometimes  measure  three 
hundred  yards  in  length.  These  bandages  also 
varied  in  fineness,  according  to  the  wealth  of 
the  deceased. 

White  linen  was  used  exclusively  for  garments 
of  the  priesthood  and  royal  personages;  the 
colored  costumes,  represented  on  the  wall  paint- 
ings, show  elaborate  designs  in  embroidery. 
The  common  people  wore  gowns  of  indigo 
colored  linen. 

Herodotus  describes  a  corselet  presented  by 
Amasis,  King  of  Egypt,  to  the  Lacedaemonians: 
"It  was  of  Linen,  ornamented  with  numer- 
ous   figures    of   animals,    worked    in    gold    and 


The  Linen  Industry  7 

cotton.  Each  thread  of  the  corselet  was  worthy 
of  admiration;  for  though  very  fine,  every 
one  was  composed  of  three  hundred  and  sixty 
other  threads,  all  distinct,  the  quality  being 
similar  to  that  dedicated  to  Minerva,  at  Lindus, 
by  the    same    monarch."     (Herodotus    ii.,    182, 

Pliny  describes  Egyptian  fish-nets  —  "Some 
of  them  were  so  delicate  that  they  would  pass 
through  a  man's  ring,  and  a  single  person 
could  carry  a  sufficient  number  of  them  to 
surround  a  whole  wood.  Julius  Lupus,  who 
died  while  Governor  of  Egypt,  had  some  of 
these  nets,  each  string  consisting  of  one  hundred 
and  fifty  threads."  Portions  of  this  kind  of 
net    have    been    discovered  at   Thebes.      (Pliny 

xix.,   I.) 

The  sail  cloths  made  in  Egypt  were  prized 
by  the  Tyrians;  they  were  frequently  adorned 
with  painted  or  embroidered  devices.  "The 
ship  in  which  Anthony  and  Cleopatra  went 
to  the  battle  of  Actium  was  distinguished  from 
the  rest,  of  the  fleet  by  its  purple  sails,  which 
were  the  peculiar  privilege  of  the  admiral's 
fleet.  The  sails  of  the  large  ship  of  Ptolemy 
Philopator,  mentioned  by  Atticus,  were  also 
of  fine  linen,  ornamented  with  a  purple  bor- 
der." 


8  The  Linen  Industry 

Palestine 

Sacred  History,  the  Bible,  gives  the  earliest 
written  records  of  the  use  of  linen.  The  first 
mention  of  linen  is  in  Genesis,  at  the  time 
Pharaoh  exalted  Joseph  to  a  high  position  in 
the  kingdom.  He  "arrayed  him  in  vestures 
of  fine  linen"  (Genesis  xli.,  42) — a  great  dis- 
tinction, permitted  only  to  members  of  royal 
families,  priests,  or  people  holding  oflftcial  posi- 
tions. Linen  was  used  for  the  curtains  of  the 
Tabernacle  (Exodus  xxvi.,  31),  the  priests' 
bonnets,  their  garments  (Exodus  xxviii.,  42), 
vestments,  lampwicks;  and  the  "women  that 
were  wise-hearted  did  spin  with  their  hands, 
and  brought  that  which  they  had  spun,  b(nh  of 
blue  and  of  purple,  and  of  scarlet,  and  of  fine 
linen,"  as  an  offering  to  the  Lord.  (Exodus 
xxxvi.,  8.)  Little  "Samuel  ministered  before 
the  Lord,  being  a  child,  girded  with  a  linen 
ephod."  (L  Samuel  ii.,  18.)  "And  Solomon 
had  horses  brought  out  of  Egypt  and  linen 
yarns;  the  king's  merchants  received  the  linen 
yarn  at  a  price."     (L  Kings  x.,  28.) 

Flax  is  mentioned  at  the  time  of  the  plagues 
—  the  plague  of  hail  —  "the  flax  and  the  barley 
were  smitten,  for  the  barley  was  in  the  ear, 
and  the  flax  boiled."     (Exodus  ix.,   ji.)     The 


The  Linen  Industry  9 

spies  sent  out  by  Joshua  to  view  the  land  of 
Jericho,  were  hid  by  Rahab:  "She  had  brought 
them  up  to  the  roof  of  her  house,  and  hid  them 
with  the  stalks  of  flax,  which  she  had  laid  in  order 
upon  the  roof  of  her  house."  (Joshua  ii.,  6.) 
It  is  said  of  Samson,  when  bound  with  new 
cords  to  be  delivered  to  the  Philistines,  "the 
cords  that  were  upon  his  arms  became  as  flax 
that  was  burnt  with  fire."  (Judges  xv.,  14.) 
In  Proverbs,  the  virtuous  woman  "seeketh  wool 
and  flax,  and  worketh  willingly  with  her  hands." 
(Proverbs  xxxi.,  13.)  In  other  references,  linen 
is  used  as  a  symbol  of  purity  on  earth,  and  of 
glory  in  heaven;  it  has  also  been  used  as  a 
symbol  of  firmness,  because  difficult  to  tear; 
of  incorruption,  and  of  clearest  splendor  —  be- 
cause whiter  when  cleansed. 

References 

Isaiah,  xix.,  9;  xlii.,3;  Leviticus,  xix.,  19;  Deuteronomy, 
xxii.,  11;  Matthew,  xxvii.,  59;  Revelation,  xix.,  8-14; 
XV.,  6. 

Phoenicia 

The  maritime  relations  of  Phoenicia  with  all 
countries  along  the  Mediterranean  Sea  made 
her  towns.  Tyre  and  Sidon,  of  great  commer- 
cial  importance;   to    such   an   extent   that   her 


lo  The  Linen  Industry 

traders  were  called  "merchant  princes."  The 
Pha^nicians,  for  many  years,  imported  Egyptian 
linens  for  clothing  and  sail  cloths;  but  they 
were  especially  noted  for  the  crimson  colored 
linens,  called  purple.  "When  the  beautiful 
purple  of  Tyre  was  first  discovered  the  sovereign 
to  whom  it  was  presented  appropriated  it  as 
a  royal  distinction,  hence  to  assume  the  purple 
became  significant  with  being  chosen  king. 
Homer  mentions  that  purple  was  only  worn  by 
princes."  The  purple  dye  was  obtained  from 
two  shell-fish,  from  a  sack  in  the  back  of  the 
neck,  which  held  a  white  garlic-like  fluid  that 
was  extracted  while  the  fish  was  alive.  When 
the  material  was  dipped  in  this  extract  and  ex- 
posed to  the  light,  it  turned  first  green,  then 
blue,  then  red,  and  finally  a  deep  purple;  after 
washing  in  soap  it  became  a  permanent  crim- 
son  color,    called    royal    purple. 

An  interesting  myth  describes  the  manner  of 
the  discovery  of  the  dye.  Heracles,  an  ancient 
god,  started  with  his  dog  for  a  walk  along  the 
shore,  to  visit  a  beautiful  maiden.  Tyros.  While 
walking,  quite  absorbed  in  the  anticipations  of 
meeting  his  lady  love,  he  forgot  his  dog,  who 
not  having  food  of  love  for  consolation,  appeased 
his  appetite  by  eating  a  shell-fish,  sunning  on 
a    stone.     When    Heracles'    visit    with    Tyros 


The  TJnen  Industry  li 

was  nearly  ended,  and  he  asked  the  privilege 
of  returning,  Tyros  suddenly  discovered  that 
the  dog's  mouth  was  a  beautiful  purple  color, 
hitherto  unknown.  With  a  spirit  of  possession, 
she  replied  to  her  lover  that  she  would  not  see 
him  again  until  he  could  bring  her  a  robe  of 
the  same  beautiful  color  as  the  mouth  of  the 
dog.  Heracles,  although  not  noted  for  an  in- 
ventive mind,  after  considerable  research  dis- 
covered the  fish  and  was  again  reinstated  in  the 
favor  of  Tyros. 

Greece 

Linen  was  one  of  the  chief  imports  of  Greece 
from  Egypt  and  Phoenicia.  To  Pliny  and 
Pausanias  we  are  indebted  for  the  knowledge 
that  flax  was  grown  in  Greece  in  ancient  times. 
Doubtless  the  same  spirit  which  produced  the 
classic  art  and  literature  of  Greece  —  that  of 
original  and  artistic  perfection  —  produced  the 
costly  materials  of  exquisite  workmanship,  often 
mentioned  in  classic  literature.  The  charm- 
ing style  of  linen  garments,  worn  by  Grecian 
women,  were  frequently  depicted  on  the  monu- 
ments; these  sculptured  pictures  portray  ample 
folds,  and  flowing  garments,  which  added  grace 
of  line  and  dignity  to  the  figure. 


12  The  Linen  Industry 

Homer  describes  not  only  the  exquisite  texture 
of  the  linen  materials,  but  suggests  that  the  art 
of  weaving,  the  greatest  of  household  accom- 
plishments, is  a  fit  task  for  the  goddesses.  *'  Now 
Iris  went  with  a  message  to  White-armed  Helen, 
in  the  likeness  of  her  husband's  sister  —and  in 
the  hall  she  found  Helen  weaving  a  great  purple 
web  of  double  fold,  and  embroidering  thereon 
manv  battles  of  horse-taming  Trojans  and 
mail-clad  Achaians,  that  had  endured  for  her 
sake,  at  the  hands  of  Ares."  (Iliad,  Book  III., 
1.  122.)  "Forthwith  she  veiled  her  face  in 
shining  linen."  In  the  battle  of  Tydides  and 
Aphrodite,  he  wounds  her  "straight  through 
the  ambrosial  raiment  that  the  Graces  them- 
selves had  woven  her."  (Iliad,  Book  V.,  11.  315- 
347.)  "And  Athena,  daughter  of  aegis-bearing 
Zeus,  cast  down  at  her  father's  threshold  her 
woven  vesture  many  colored,  that  herself  had 
wrought  and  her  hands  had  fashioned."  (Iliad, 
Book  v.,  11.  733-736.)  "And  Patrocles  bade 
his  fellows  and  handmaidens  spread  with  all 
speed  a  thick  couch  for  Phoenix;  and  they 
obeyed  and  spread  a  couch  as  he  ordained, 
fleeces  and  rugs  and  fine  flock  of  linen."  (Iliad, 
Book  IX.,  1.  660.)  Carpets  of  purple  cover 
the  divans  at  the  reception  of  Odysseus  by 
Achilles.    (Iliad,  Book  IX.,  1.  200.)   The  Grecian 


The  Linen  Industry  13 

women  were  the  first,  it  is  claimed,  to  use  a 
small  square  of  linen  for  a  pocket  handkerchief; 
for  which  Aristophanes  said,  "the  old  men  per- 
ferred  a  fox's  tail." 

There  is  hardly  a  book  in  the  Iliad  which 
does  not  refer  to  linen  and  the  noble  art  of 
weaving;  and  the  proverbial  web  of  Penelope, 
m  the  Odyssey,  gives  added  honor  to  her  charms 
of  wit  and  grace. 

But  this  a  woi'k  she  made 
So  hugely  long,  undoing  still  in  nighl 
By  torches,  all  she  did  by  clay's  broad  light. 

Because  wise  Pallas  hath  given  wills  to  it 

So  full  of  art,  and  made  her  understand 

All  works  in  fair  skill  of  a  lady's  hand. 

But  (for  her  working  mind)  we  read  of  none 

Of  all  the  old  world,  in  which  Greece  hath  shown 

Her  rarest  pieces,  that  could  equal  her; 

Tyro,  Alcmena,  and  Mycena,  were 

To  hoki  comparison  in  no  degree, 

For  solid  brain,  with  wise  Penelope. 

—  Chapman,  Odyssey,  Book  II.,  1.  137. 

In  early  times,  the  Island  of  Delos  was  the 
emporium  for  linen  products;  she  sent  exports 
of  Hnen  to  all  ports  on  the  Mediterranean  Sea; 
until  the  war  of  Mithridates  closed  her  com- 
mercial interests. 

Alexander  the  Great  is  said  to  have  bound  up 


14  The  Linen  Industry 

the  wounds  of  Lysimachus,  after  battle,  with 
his  turban;  the  king's  turbans  were  of  linen 
ornamented  with  gold  and  precious  stones, 
worn  like  diadems. 

Rome 

Rome  owed  her  knowledge  of  linen  and  the 
textile  arts  to  Greece;  the  wealth  and  luxury 
of  the  Roman  citizen  encouraged  products  from 
the  loom  of  the  finest  textures,  often  embellished 
with  gold  and  silver  embroidery.  Rome  im- 
ported from  her  colonies  fine  linens,  and  the 
emperors  established  colleges  or  corporations 
for  its  manufacture,  which  supplied  the  court 
and  officers  of  the  army;  thus  the  industry  was 
carried  wherever  the  Roman  legion  penetrated 
—  Spain,  Gaul,  and  the  shores  of  England, 

The  citizen's  robes  and  mantles  were  often 
very  costly.  Plutarch  relates  that  Cato,  on 
receiving  one  of  these  robes  by  inheritance,  com- 
manded it  to  be  immediately  sold,  because  he 
considered  it  too  costly  for  a  conscientious 
Roman  to  wear  —  showing  his  enmity  to  luxury. 

Nero's  dining-rooms  were  Kung  with  Baby- 
lonian cloth,  mentioned  by  Pliny,  ''worth  about 
sixty  thousand  dollars."  Gold  and  silver  were 
probably   combined   with   the   linen,   which   in- 


The  Linen  Industry  15 

creased  the  value  of  the  tapestries.  PHny  also 
relates  with  contempt  that  the  Roman  ladies 
"cannot  desire  to  go  more  rich  and  costly  in 
their  apparel  than  to  wear  linen."  He  de- 
scribes their  weaving  establishments,  which  were 
placed  underground  to  obtain  more  moisture 
and  facilitate  the  spinning  of  very  fine  thread. 

Linen  was  employed  not  only  for  articles  of 
dress,  especially  worn  by  women,  but  also  for 
bedding,  table  covers,  napkins,  hand  towels, 
and  bath  towels. 

With  the  downfall  of  the  Roman  power, 
several  centuries,  known  as  the  dark  ages, 
followed,  when  each  tribe  or  family  made  only 
enough  for  home  consumption.  The  great  com- 
mercial interests  lay  dormant,  until  the  re- 
awakening of  the  tenth  century,  when  markets 
for  all   the   textiles   were   again   established. 


England 

The  conquest  of  England  by  William  of 
Normandy  (1066  a.  d.),  and  the  immigration 
from  Flanders  which  followed,  gave  an  impulse 
to  English  linen  manufacture.  In  the  early 
renaissance  the  linen  of  Flanders  was  famous 
and  her  artisans  skilled  in  its  manufacture. 


i6  The  Linen  Industry 

A  curious  story  is  told  of  the  case  of  a  man 
in  England  who  had  been  cited  for  offending 
against  a  law,  then  in  force,  to  prevent  the 
wearing  of  too  wide  breeches,  and  who  pleaded 
in  defence  the  exceeding  utility  of  the  extrava- 
gant fashion.  In  proof  of  which  he  produced 
from  the  prosq^ibed  garments  a  number  of 
sheets,  two  table  cloths,  ten  napkins,  four 
shirts,  and  other  linen  articles,  and  was  pro- 
ceeding to  the  extraction  of  more,  when  the 
judge  amidst  much  laughter,  stopped  and  dis- 
missed him." 

The  finest  linen  was  imported  from  Holland, 
used  principally  for  shirts,  often  elaborately 
embroidered,  and  costing  fifty  dollars  apiece. 
Linen  in  some  places  was  held  at  such  value, 
that  it  was  used  for  money. 


United  States 

With  the  colonization  of  America,  the  knowl- 
edge and  use  of  linen  was  brought  to  these 
shores  by  the  Pilgrim  Fathers.  Flax  spinning 
and  weaving  in  the  colonies  was  a  common 
household  industry,  until  the  invention  of  the 
cotton-gin,  cheapening  the  cost  of  the  manu- 
facture of  cotton  ^which  was  then  largely  sub- 


The  Linen  Industry  17 

stituted  for  Jinen.  There  are  beautiful  examples 
of  colonial  linens  which  are  to-day  the  pride  of 
many  households,  and  the  grandmother's  spin- 
ning wheel  is  treasured  as  an  ornament  for  the 
best  room  of  the  house. 

The  Colonies  of  Massachusetts,  Connecticut, 
Pennsylvania,  Maryland,  Virginia,  and  other 
places,  as  early  as  1640,  passed  laws  encourag- 
ing the  production  of  flax,  besides  re-printing 
pamphlets  of  foreign  publication,  for  the  "Bene- 
fit of  the  Inhabitants,"  and  recommended  them 
to  their  perusal. 

Of  the  later  use  and  development  of  flax  and 
iinen  manufacture  in  this  country,  a  following 
chapter  will  treat. 

To-day,  the  countries  of  Egypt,  Greece, 
Holland,  Belgium,  Germany,  Austria,  Russia, 
Great  Britain,  and  Italy  yield  flax  fibre  and 
export  linens.  In  tracing  the  history  of  the 
textile  it  has  been  clearly  seen  that  each  coun- 
try has  apparently  held  tenaciously  to  an  art 
which  in  early  times  was  of  commercial  value. 


II 

THE    FLAX   PLANT 

The  botanical  name  of  the  flax  plant  is  Linum 
usitatissiffiiuri.  The  English  word,  linen,  is 
derived  from  the  generic  name,  linum,  and  the 
term  lint,  from  the  old  Scotch  word,  liti.  Flax 
grows  wild  in  Egypt,  and  is  cultivated  all  over 
the  world.  Botanists  claim  that  there  are  at 
least  one  hundred  species  of  the  plant,  with 
flowers  of  various  colors,  some  yellow,  white, 
flesh-color,  red,  and  blue. 

The  plant  ol  the  Lniiini  usitatissimun  con- 
sists of  a  single  stalk,  growing  from  twenty  to 
forty  inches  high,  the  average  height  about 
thirty  inches;  of  a  green  color,  with  leaves 
alternating  on  the  stalk;  crowned  with  a  beau- 
tiful blue  flower  of  five  petals  sometimes  called 
the  fugitive  flower,  because  the  petals  fall  almost 
as  soon  as  the  blossom  opens. 

Plutarch  writes  that  the  reason  the  Egyptians 
used   the  flax   plant,  with   the   blue   flower,   for 

cloth,  was  because,  "the  universe  itself  is  sur- 

19 


20 


The  Linen  Industry 


rounded  with  the  ethereal  blue  of  the  sky."  As 
soon  as  the  petals  of  the  flower  fall,  the  seed 
bolls  are  formed;  in  each  section,  two  cells  are 
formed,  each  boll  containing  ten  shiny,  dark 
brown  seeds.  The  seed  has  a  medicinal  quality, 
being  used  for  poultices  and'  flaxseed-tea; 
the  outer  coating  contains  a  mucilaginous  sub- 


THE    FLAX    PLANT    AND    BLOSSOMS 


stance,  which  has  properties  that  are  soothing 
to  inflamed   membrane. 

The  seeds  are  used  for  making  linseed  oil; 
first  they  are  bruised,  then  heated,  and  sub- 
jected to  hydraulic  pressure,  when  they  yield 
from  twenty  to  twenty-seven  per  cent  oil.  This 
oil  is  especially  valuable  for  varnishes  because 


'Hic  LiiH'ii   Industry  .21 

of  its  drying  properties.  When  the  oil  comes 
from  the  press,  it  is  termed  "raw  oil,"  when 
subjected  to  heat,  "boiled  oil."  The  remains 
of  the  seed,  after  the  oil  is  extracted,  is  made 
»  into  a  cake  much  used  for  fodder.  When  the 
-flax  is  grown  for  seed,  it  is  sown  thinly,  in  order 
that  the  stalks  may  throw  out  a  great  many 
branches,  and  yield  a  large  crop  of  seed.     The 


12^-^ 


^^ 


LV5'.-, 


'a\ 


UiH 


'iA&kkL 


A  I' 


^•..-„„-^. 


METHOD    OF   STAPKING    FLAX 


fibre  of  the  plant  grown  for  seed  is  coarse  and 
useless  for  fine   materials. 

To  produce  a  good  crop  of  flax  fibre,  great 
care  is  taken  in  the  selection  of  the  seed,  which 
should  be  of  the  previous  year's  growth.  The 
best  seed  comes  from  Riga  —  it  is  a  Dutch 
seed.  The  ground  should  be  carefully  pre- 
pared, dry,  of  sandy  loam,  with  strong  sub-soil 


22  The  Linen  Intlustry 

—  the  climate,  temperate  and  moist.  It  is 
sown  in  the  early  spring  —April  or  May,  and 
reaped  in  August  when  the  stalks  have  turned 
two-thirds  yellow.  Flax  yields  a  better  quality 
of  fibre  after  a  rotation  of  crops,  such  as  grass,  * 
oats,  potatoes,  and  wheat;  the  same  ground 
should  not  be  used  but  once  in  six  or  eight  years. 
It  is  necessary  to  harvest  the  flax  by  hand;  the 
stalks  are  tied  carefully  and  stacked  in  the  open 
fields.  In  Germany,  where  the  seed  is  saved,  it 
is  taken  from  the  stalks  by  drawing  them  through 
a  coarse  comb. 

Flax  is  cultivated  in  Russia,  Germany,  Switzer- 
land, Italy,  Holland,  Belgium,  France,  Ireland, 
England,   Scotland,   Greece,  and   America. 

Each  stalk  consists  of  a  woody  cylinder;  out- 
side of  this  and  cemented  to  it,  are  the  long, 
shiny  fibres  which  are  glued  to  an  outer  skin  or 
bark.  In  order  to  separate  these  fibres  from 
the  outer  skin  or  bark,  the  bark  has  to  be  retted 
or  rotted  away.  There  are  several  ways  of 
retting  flax.  One  method  is  to  place  the  bundles 
of  flax,  with  their  roots  down,  in  ponds;  it  is 
covered  with  straw  and  boards,  and  kept  in  the 
water  until  decomposition  has  liberated  the 
bark  from  the  fibre.  This  process  is  slow, 
requiring  from  ten  days  to  two  weeks.  It  has 
to  be  carefully  watched,  or  the  fibre  will  become 


The  Linen  Industry 


23 


too  brittle  if  allowed  to  remain  in  the  water  too 
long. 

In  Belgium  the  straw^  is  placed  in  crates  and 
submerged  in  the  sluggish  running  river  Lys, 
at  Courtrai.  The  flax  retted  in  this  manner 
is  of  the  finest  quality,  owing  largely  to  the 
properties  of  the  water. 

In    Russia    another    method    is    used,    called 


SHUWINc;    METHOD    OF    FORMING.    STOOKS 


dew-retting.  The  straw  is  placed  in  open  fields 
on  rather  moist  ground,  where  decomposition 
is  accomplished  by  sun  and  rain.  This  form 
of  retting  takes  a  longer  time. 

When  the  bundles  are  taken  from  the  water, 
they  are  at  first  stooked  in  the  open  fields,  then 
opened,  and  allowed  to  dry.  When  completely 
retted   the   outer   bark   falls  away  very  readily. 


24 


The  Linen  Industry 


In  order  to  make  the  fibre  perfectly  free,  the 
inner  woody  cyHnder  must  be  disposed  of;  the 
removal  of  this  pith  is  accomplished  by  a  process 
called  scutching.  The  primitive  method  was 
to  break  the  stalk  with  the  hand,  then  beat  out 
the  pieces  of  wood.  In  Ireland,  to-day,  it  is 
said  this  is  accomplished  by  breaking  over  a 
back    of   a    chair;    of   course,    this    is    only    for 


A   BREAKER    (PRIMITIVE) 


household  uses.  A  primitive  pattern  of  a  break- 
ing-machine is  shown  in  the  illustration.  Later 
improvements  have  been  made,  where  fluted 
rollers  are  used  to  crush  the  fiax.  Scutching 
mills  are  established  in  flax  growing  districts. 
The  particles  of  wood  are  removed  by  being 
placed  in  upright  posts  and  combed  with  wooden 


7'he  Linen  Industry 


25 


knives.  As  the  flax  is  beaten,  a  certain  amount 
of  the  fibre  is  wliipped  off,  and  is  known  in  the 
Irish  scutch  mills  as  "codilla,"  a  very  cheap 
material  used  for  coarse  goods. 

Fla.v    now    becomes    commercial,    with    the 
finishing  of  these   processes,   and   is   ready   for 


(  OMMF.Rr  I  M.    II  AX 


the  markets.  It  is  characterized  as  a  fibre, 
by  its  length,  fineness,  solidity,  and  suppleness 
—  the  length  being  especially  valuable  in  spin- 
ning, as  well  as  contributing  to  the  durability 
of  the  textile. 

The   color  and   quality   varies,  owing  to   the 


26 


The  Linen  Industry 


soil,  climate,  and  process  of  retting  used.  It 
is  sold  usually  in  fourteen  pound  bundles,  called 
in  England  a  "stone,"  including  one  hundred 
pound  lots,  ranging  in  price  from  three  to  five 
shillings.  The  finest  quality  of  flax  brings 
often  eight  hundred  dollars  a  ton,  while  the 
cheapest,    only    about    one    hundred    dollars. 


EGYPTIAN    SPINDLES 


Spinning 


The  flax  is  made  exceedingly  smooth  by 
careful  combings,  when  used  and  made  into 
yarn  in  the  household. 

For  spinning,  in  early  times,  the  distaff  was 
used.  The  flax  was  fastened  on  loosely,  in 
order  that  the  fibres  could  be  easily  drawn  out; 


The  Linen  Industry  27 

one  fibre  being  joined  to  another  by  twisting 
and  overlapping  the  ends;  the  end  of  the  yarn 
was  fastened  to  a  spindle,  usually  weighted; 
as  the  thread  gradually  lengthened,  the  spindle 
spun  round  and  round,  falling  to  the  ground. 
The  illustration  represents  some  Egyptian  spin- 
dles in  the  British  Museum. 

Wilkinson   describes   them   as   follows: 

The  spindles  were  generally  small,  l)cing  about  three 
inches  in  length,  and  several  have  been  found  at  Thebes, 
and  are  now  preserved  in  the  museums  of  Europe.  They 
were  generally  of  wood,  and,  in  order  to  increase  impetus 
in  turning,  the  circular  head  was  occasionally  of  gypsum 
or  composition;  some,  however,  were  of  a  light  jjlaited 
work,  made  of  rushes,  or  palm  leaves,  stained  various 
colors,  and  furnished  with  a  loop  of  the  same  materials, 
for  securing  the  twine  after  it  was  wound.     (Chapter  IX.) 

The  spinner  stood,  holding  the  distaff  in 
the  right  arm,  and  with  the  use  of  both  hands 
pulled  out  the  fibre,  which  was  fastened  upon 
the  spindle,  and  gradually  fell  to  the  ground; 
when  the  spindle  reached  the  ground,  the 
thread  was  wound  on  the  spindle  and  fastened, 
this  operation  was  continued  until  the  task 
was  finished. 

At  the  discovery  of  the  lake-dwellers,  in 
Switzerland,  in  1865,  forty  spindles  were  found 
which  were  at  least  three  thousand  years  old. 

A  gentleman  traveling  in  a   remote  province 


28  The  Linen  Industry 

of  England,  in  1865,  found  a  woman  spinning 
with  a  spindle  made  of  a  potato  fastened  to  a  stick. 
The  spindle  and  distaff  spread  all  over  the 
world,  but  simple  as  they  were,  some  tribes 
never  made  the  discovery,  and  continued  twist- 
ing fibres,  by  rolling  them  between  the  palms 
and  thighs. 

Among  our  ancestors,  the  seventh  of  January 
was  called  St.  Distaff's  Day,  or  Rock  Day.  This 
was  because  women  resumed  the  rock  or  distaff 
on  that  Day,  after  the  twehe  days'  celebration 
of  Christmas.  After  such  revelry  as  accompanied 
the  Christmas  festival,  it  would  not  do  to  begin 
work  too  vigorously.  The  women,  howe\er, 
seemed  to  be  more  conscientious  than  the  men, 
who  played  pranks  with  the  flax  and  tow,  in  re- 
turn for  which  the  maids  poured  water  over  the 
men.  Even  as  late  as  the  days  of  Burns,  a  social 
assemblage  was  called  a  rocking  because  the  lasses 
each  brought  her  spinning  apparatus  or  rock." 

THE  .MORROW  AFTER  TWELFTH  DAY 

Partly  work  and  partly  play, 
You  must  work  on  St.  Distaff's  Day, 
From  the  plow  soon  free  your  team; 
Then  come  home  and  fother  them. 
If  the  maids  a  spinning  go, 
Burn  the  flax  and  lire  the  tow; 
Bring  in  pails  of  water,  then 
Let  the  maid  be  wash  the  men. 


The  Linen  Industry  2g 

Give  St.  DistalT  all  the  right; 

Then  bid  Christmas  sjjort  good -night, 

And  next  morrow  e\-er\'  one 

To  his  own  x'ocation.  —  Robert  llcrrick 


The    Spinning   Wheel 

The  spinning  of  flax  with  the  spindle  was 
superseded  about  the  beginning  of  the  four- 
teenth century,  by  the  invention  of  the  spinning 
wheel;  and  in  the  early  part  of  the  sixteenth 
century  the  wheel  was  invented,  at  which  the 
spinner   sat. 

The  construction  of  the  wheel  varies  —  the 
distafi^  was  fastened  on  to  the  frame  in  a  per- 
pendicular position,  at  the  further  end;  and 
just  below,  the  spindle  revolved  on  a  pivot, 
controlled  by  a  cord  attached  to  the  wheel. 
The  spindle  held  a  bobbin,  on  which  the  flyer 
revolving  with  greater  rapidity  than  the  bobbin 
gave  the   thread  the   necessary  twist. 

The  treadles  to  regulate  the  wheel  were  of 
later  date.  About  1764,  the  two-handed  wheel, 
with  two  spindles,  was  invented.  It  is  described 
as  follows:  "The  frame  of  the  machine  stood 
on  three  feet,  on  the  right  of  which  facing  the 
spinner,  was  a  spoked  wheel,  of  about  two  feet 
in  diameter,  with  the  rim  slightly  hollowed  out- 


30  The  Linen  Industry 

side.  Rapid  motion  was  given  to  the  wheel 
by  a  wooden  rod  or  crank,  connecting  the  axle 
of  the  wheel  to  the  treadle  or  footboard,  and 
moved  at  will  by  the  foot  of  the  operator,  much 
in  the  same  wav  as  a  lathe-turning  is  mo\ed. 
On  the  left  were  two  pirns  or  spindles,  one  for 
each  hand,  for  receiving  the  yarn  as  it  was  spun, 
driven  by  means  of  bands  of  gut,  or  cords  of 
flax  or  woolen  yarns,  tightly  twisted,  passing 
around  the  rim  of  the  wheels  and  their  axles. 
Each  pirn  or  spindle  had  a  flyer  for  twisting 
and  guiding  the  thread  before  it  was  wound  on 
the  bobbin,  which  was  a  hollow  reed  slipped 
(j\er  the  axle  and  fitting  rather  closely  to  it. 
The  fly  went  round  with  great  rapidity,  while  the 
bobbin  being  kept  back  by  the  strain  of  the  thread, 
turned  round  on  the  axle  only  as  fast  as  it  was 
let  out  bv  the  spinner.  This  depended  upon 
the  degree  of  twist  intended  bv  the  spinner, 
and  the  skill  of  tlie  operator.  The  rock  or 
distaft  with  the  flax  wound  round  it  in  the  man- 
ner best  adapted  for  admitting  of  the  filaments 
being  readily  drawn  out  by  the  spinner,  was 
placed  above  the  pirns,  and  both  hands  were 
employed  in  drawing  out  the  fibres  and  iorm- 
ing  the  threads.  The  threads  after  being  car- 
ried through  a  throttle  or  opening  in  the  end 
of  the  spindle  were  from  time  to  time  shifted 


The  Linen  Industry 


31 


along  the  flyer  by  means  of  small  pieces  of  bent 
wire  attached  to  it,  for  the  purpose  of  filling  the 
bobbin  regularly  with  the  yarn  as  it  was  spun. 
During  the  operation  the  spinner  moistened 
the  thread  with  saliva,  the  better  to  unite  the 
fibres  and  improve  the  appearance  of  the  yarn." 
The  wheels  were  often   made  of  fine  woods, 


PRISCILI.A    SPINNIMO 


Barse 


beautifully  polished,  quite  suitable  to  use  in 
the  drawing-room.  Women  of  all  classes  learned 
the  art,  and  one  of  the  survivals  of  this  universal 
custom  is  in  the  term  "spinster,"  applied  to 
unmarried  women  of  an   uncertain  age. 

Longfellow,  in  "Miles  Standish,"  gives  a 
charming  picture  of  Priscilla  at  her  wheel  — 
"her   white    hands   feeding   the    spindle,   while 


32  The  Linen  Industty 

her  foot  on  the  treadle,  she  guides  the  wheel." 
In  Evangeline,  the  hum  of  the  wheel  resounds, 
when  "the  maidens  and  matrons  sat  in  white 
caps  and  kirtles  —  with  distaff  spinning  the 
golden  flax  for  gossiping  looms  —  whose  noisy 
shuttles  within  doors,  mingle  their  sounds  with 
the  whir  of  the  wheels,  and  the  songs  of  the 
maidens."  Evangeline,  again,  is  seated  — 
"spinning  flax  for  the  loom  —  while  the  monot- 
onous drone  of  the  wheel  followed  the  old 
man's  song." 

The  revival  of  the  hand-spinning  industry 
has  been  supervised  by  a  Mr.  Albert  Flemming, 
in  Langdale,  a  town  in  England.  Studying 
the  art  himself,  by  finding  an  old  \\oman  who 
had  spun  from  her  youth.  Mr.  Flemming  be- 
came most  proficient,  and  so  much  interested 
that  he  established  an  industry  in  the  region, 
loaning  wheels  and  giN'ing  flax  to  all  who  de- 
sired. It  has  proved  a  great  success,  so  much 
so,  that  at  the  yearly  gathering,  or  socialtea, 
of  the  members,  when  they  are  asked  it  they 
wish  to  give  up  their  wheels,  the  answer  is  most 
emphatically,  no.  The  replies  even  show  an 
eagerness  to  add  more  opportunities  to  others 
in  the  neighborhood. 

For  the  women,  it  proves  a  source  for  extra 
pennies,  which  add  to  their  household  comforts, 


The  Linen  Industry  ^^ 

and  spending  industriously  many  long  winter 
evenings,  perhaps  otherwise  given  solely  to 
gossip. 

The  invention  of  the  spinning  wheel  has  been 
given  by  tradition  to  an  inhabitant  of  Nodville, 
and  the  following  tale  has  been  taken  from  the 
account  of  one  Sir  Henry  Hunlock. 

FAIRY   TALE 

There  was  once  an  old  woman  and  her  daughter,  who 
lived  at  the  side  of  a  hill,  in  the  midst  of  a  forest,  near 
Nod\-iIle.  They  were  poor  and  their  onlv  support  was 
obtained  from  selling  the  thread  which'  the  daughter 
spun  wiih  her  spindle  and  distaff.  During  the  %ng 
winter  when  the  roads  were  so  bad  that  merchants  of  the 
surrounding  country  could  not  come  to  ]jurchase  the 
thread,  the  daughter,  one  of  the  most  beautiful  of  creatures, 
worked  witliout  ceasing  to  spin  enough  thread  to  enable 
her  to  purchase  a  cloak  for  her  moiher,  and  a  scarlet 
shawl    for   herself. 

It  happened  that  the  King's  son  of  thac  country,  who 
was  an  only  son,  while  out  one  day  deer  hunting,  lost  his 
way  in  the  forest,  and  called  at  the  widow's  cottage  to 
incjuire  the  way.  He  was  pleased  with  the  girl's  beauty, 
and  not  less  with  the  numerous  skeins  of  yarn  which 
lay  upon  the  cottage  floor,  showing  her  skill  and  industry. 

He  inquired  how  it  happened  that  she  had  collected 
so  much,  and  the  old  woman  replied  that  she  had  spun 
it  all  in  a  week.  '"In  a  week!"  exclaimed  the  aston- 
ished Prince.  "If  this  be  true,  I  have  found  a  'gal' 
more  worthy  of  attachment  than  any  other  in  the  whole 
country."     I  will  send  you  a  load  of  flax  and  if  she  has 


34    ■  The  Linen  Industry 

it  spun  at  the  end  of  a  week  I  will  make  her  my  bride, 
but  if  not,  I  will  have  you  both  killed  for  deceiving  the 
son  of  your  sovereign." 

A  long  train  of  camels  on  the  next  day  laden  with  flax, 
stood  before  the  door  of  the  cottage.  The  driver  unloaded 
them,  and  told  the  girl  she  must  spin  this  all  in  a  wet-k 
or  prepare  for  death. 

After  they  had  departed,  she  was  crushed  with  despair, 
she  went  into  tlie  forest  and  sitting  down  under  a  tree, 
wept  bitterly.  While  she  was  weeping  a  decrepit  old 
man  came  up  to  her  and  inquired  the  cause  of  her  tears. 
She  told  him  the  whole  story.  "Do  not  weep,  daughter," 
he  said,  "I  will  execute  every  one  of  the  tasks  imposed 
upon  you  by  the  Prince,  provided  you  will  either  give 
me  your  oldest  son  when  he  is  twelve  months  and  one 
day  old,  or  that  you  shall  in  the  intervening  time  find 
out  my  name."  She  agreed  to  the  terms  at  once,  and  in 
some  mysterious  way  the  old  man  conveyed  the  flax 
away,  and  an  hour  before  the  Prince  arrived,  returned 
the  finest  and  best  twisted  thread  ever  seen  in  Nodville. 
The  Prince  made  the  girl  his  bride,  and  conveyed  her 
and  her  mother  to  the  beautiful  palace  which  stood  on 
a  very  high  hill  and  cost  a  great  deal  of  money. 

Every  Monday  before  sunrise  the  Prince  gave  his  wife 
a  quantity  of  flax  which  he  expected  to  be  spun  through 
the  week,  and  every  Saturday  night  the  yarn  was  made 
ready  by  the  mysterious  old  man.  At  length  the  Prin- 
cess became  the  mother  of  a  beautiful  boy,  and  the  thoughts 
of  the  bargain  she  had  made  drove  her  distracted.  Every 
effort  she  made  she  could  not  find  out  the  name  of  the 
wonderful  spinner,  and  e\-ery  time  he  came  lie  reminded 
her  of  her  promise,  and  that  the  time  was  near  when  he 
had  a  right  to  claim  her  child. 

One  evening  as  she  sat  oppressed,  her  husband  inquired 
the  reason  of  her  sadness,  but  she  was  unable  to  answer 
him  a  word.     "Come,  my  love,"    said  he,  "do  not    be 


The  Linen  Industry  35 

cast  down  and  I  will  tell  nou  an  interesting  story:  While 
out  hunting  to-day  1  lost  my  way  in  the  forest  —  I  thought 
I  heard  a  human  voice,  and  following  in  the  direction 
of  the  sound,  I  came  to  a  cave  where  I  saw  an  old  man, 
who  did  not  notice  me,  so  deeply  was  he  engaged  in  his 
work,  a  strange  sort  of  labor.  He  was  spinning,  not  as  you 
do  with  the  distaff,  but  with  a  wheel,  which  flew  round 
as  rapidly  as  lightning  —  and  gave  out  a  sound  like  water 
falling  from  a  mountain  torrent  —  all  the  while  he  never 
ceased  singing: 

My  mistress,  little  she  knows  my  name, 

Which  shan't  be  forgot,  which  shan't  be  forgot, 

When  a  Prince  is  heir  to  the  fortune  I  claim. 

Of  Walloty  Trot,  Walloty  Trot. 

I  come  at  the  end  of  a  year  and  a  day, 

And  take  the  young  Prince,  my  heir  away. 

With  my  whack!  she  goes! 

While  nobody  knows 

My  trusty  machine 

In  this  cave  unseen 

Here  in  this  spot 

For  Walloty  Trot.        . 

The  Princess  made  her  husband  repeat  the  rhyme 
several  times,  until  she  was  sure  that  she  could  remem- 
ber it  perfectly.  When  the  old  man  came  to  claim  her 
child,  "Stop  neighbor,"  said  she,  "there  goes  another 
word  to  that  bargain,  I  have  found  out  your  name.  It  is 
Walloty  Trot."  "You  have  indeed  found  out  my  name," 
said  he,  my  business  on  earth  is  well-nigh  tinished,  but 
before  I  depart  I  am  bound  to  tell  you  the  secret  of  my 
art."  He  went  into  the  forest  and  returned  with  his 
wheels.  He  then  taught  the  lady  their  use  —  showing 
her  that  he  could  spin  sixty-six  times  more  with  them 
than  she  could  with  the  distaff  —  and  then  vanished, 
after  which  he  was  never  seen  again  in  that  part  of  the 
world. 


36  The  Linen  Industry 

The  prince  and  princess  taught  this  new  branch  of 
industry  to  their  subjects  —  which  so  enriched  them  that 
all  the  surrounding  nations  regarded  them  with  admira- 
tion. 

—  Sir  Henrx  Ilunlock,  181 2.     British  Folk  Lore 


Weaving 

The  art  of  \vea\ ing,  though  \ery  ancient,  has 
been  considered  the  distinctive  feature  between 
the  savage  and  civilized  tiibes. 

\Vea\ing  is  the  art  of  interlacing  threads, 
that  is,  alternating  one  series  over  and  under 
another    to    foim   a    texture. 

The  Egvptians  have  been  credited  with  the 
invention  of  weaving,  and  on  the  tomb  walls  of 
Beni-Hassan,  there  are  two  kinds  of  looms 
depicted,  one  horizontal,  the  other  vertical. 
(Wilkinson,  Chapter  IX.,  Plares  386,  387. j 
Herodotus  describing  the  methods  of  wea\ing 
used  by  the  Egyptians  says  that  "Other  nations 
made  cloth  by  pushing  the  woof  upwards,  the 
Egyptians  on  the  contrary  press  it  down."  In 
a  document,  written  by  Pope  Alexander  VE, 
the  antiquity  of  weaving  is  credited  to  the 
invention  of  one  man,  while  other  authorities 
claim  the  knowledge  originally  came  through 
some    supernatural  agency. 


The  Linen  Industry  37 

"It  appears,"  says  his  Hohness,  Pope  Alex- 
ander VI.,  "that  the  world  was  first  indebted 
to  one  Arkite  Chiden  Ghelen,  an  extremely 
ingenious  artisan  of  Nodville,  for  the  first  regu- 
larly manufactured  piece  of  cloth  ever  produced 
on  the  surface  of  this  terrestrial  globe;  and 
although  it  was  akin  to  what  we  at  this  time 
and  generation  call  matting,  and  produced  by 
twisting  and  interlacing  leaf,  stems,  and  fibres 
together,  yet  the  workmanship  cannot  be  sur- 
passed by  the  manufacturers  of  Bolton  cloths 
of  the  present  day."  From  this  it  would  ap- 
pear that  his  Holiness  had  a  sample  of  the  cloth 
actually  in  his  possession.  Perhaps  sewing 
the  fig  leaves,  as  mentioned  in  the  Book  of 
Genesis,  has  reference  to  this  same  process  — 
an  obvious  impnnement  of  the  garment  of 
leaves,  which  was  suggested  by  twisting  the  peel 
of  rushes  into  fine  strings,  by  which  means 
superior  textures  were  produced;  but  this  im- 
provement was  not  adopted  generally,  in  the 
part  of  the  country  of  which  I  speak,  till  after 
the  death  of  Methuselah."  "It  did  not  escape 
the  notice  of  the  mat  weavers,  that  their  work 
was  more  flexible  and  agreeable  to  the  wearer 
(particularly  for  under-garments),  by  the  use 
of  a  finer  fibre,  and  accordingly  we  find  that 
numerous   trials   were   actually    made   with   the 


^S  The  Linen  Industry 

fibres  of  various  kinds  of  plants,  such  as  those 
of  hemp  and  flax  species." 

As  referred  to  in  the  historical  notes,  weaving 
was  mentioned  frequently  in  the  Bible,  and  in 
the  classic  literature  of  the  Greeks.  Virgil, 
who  was  a  realist  in  his  portrayal  of  nature  and 
man's  share  of  labor,  gives  a  vivid  scene  of 
the  art  of  weaving,  when  he  describes  a  contest 
between  Minerva  and  Arachne.  In  the  Meta- 
morphoses of  Ovid,  the  art  of  making  linen 
cloth  was  attributed  to  both  contestants.  It 
was  for  merit  of  the  invention  that  the  chal- 
lenge was  supposed  to  have  been  made  — 
Arachne,  proud  of  her  ingenuity  in  the  art, 
presents  the  challenge. 

Both  take  their  stations  and  the  piece  prepare, 

And  order  even,-  slender  thread  with  care, 

The  web  enwraps  the  beam,  the  reed  divides, 

While  through  the  intervening  space  the  shuttle  ghdes 

Which  their  swift  hands  receive,  then  poised  with  lead 

The  swinging  weight   strikes  close  the   inserted   thread, 

Each  girds  her  flowing  garments  round  her  waist. 

And  plies  her  feet  with  dexterous  haste." 

Minerva  is  enraged  that  she  should  find  a 
rival,  and  be  outdone  by  Arachne;  in  her  rage 
she  strikes  Arachne  with  her  shuttle,  and  wounds 
her  pride,  which  causes  Arachne  to  hang  her- 
self.    Minerva,  regretting  her  deed  and  touched 


The  Linen  Industry 


39 


with  compassion,  transforms  Arachne  into  a 
spider,  in  this  way  perpetrating  her  art  until 
this  day. 

(Sec  Ovid,   Metamorphoses,  Book  VI,,  Fable   i.) 


THE     RUSSIAN    LOOM 


Looms 


The  first  looms  were  probably  stretched  upon 
the  ground.  Then  vertical  looms  were  made 
—  the  threads  were  wound  on  a  pole  which 
rested  upon  two  upright  posts,  and  the  threads 
were  attached  to  a  pole  on  the  ground.  The 
weaver  carried  the  thread  of  the  woof  to  and 


40  The  Linen  Industry 

fro  with  his  fingers,  over  and  under  the  warp 
threads.  A  reed  was  then  used  to  press  the 
thread  down  and  make  the  texture  firm.  The 
first  kind  of  instrument  employed  to  carry  the 
thread  was  fike  a  knitting  needle,  having  a 
hook  in  one  end,  which  held  the  end  of  the 
thread.  A  shepherd's  crook  originated  from 
this  design. 

The  principles  of  all  early  looms  are  the  same. 
The  one  most  familiar,  similar  to  the  Russian 
loom  in  the  illustration,  has  four  upright  posts 
(in  this  frame  the  two  forward  ones  have  been 
cut  ofi);  these  are  held  together  by  cross-beams. 
At  the  front  is  a  beam  upon  which  the  material 
is  wound  as  it  is  woven,  while  at  the  back  a 
beam  holds  the  wound  warp  —  this  is  raised 
and  lowered  according  to  the  amount  of  yarn 
upon  it.  The  lay  is  suspended  not  far  from 
the  front  —  it  is  used  to  press  the  threads  of 
the  woof  together. 

Behind  the  lay  are  the  heddles,  hung  from 
pulleys,  which  connect  with  the  treadles  under 
the  frame  work,  and  are  raised  and  lowered  at 
will.  The  heddles  are  composed  of  loops  in 
the  centre  of  each  piece  of  twine;  there  are  as 
many  heddles  as  there  are  threads  in  the  warp, 
which  are  passed  through  the  loops.  For 
plain  weaving  two  heddles  are   suflRcient,  and 


The  Linen  Industry  41 

these  are  threaded  alternately,  so  that  half  of 
the  threads  are  raised  at  once,  through  which 
the  shuttle  can  be  passed;  then  the  other  heddle 
is  raised,  and  the  shuttle  passing  back  completes 
the  web,  by  passing  through  the  other  half  of 
the  threads  of  the  warp.  The  lay  is  then 
swung  against  the  weft  and  presses  it  into 
place. 

This  simply  constructed  loom  has  received 
many  improvements  —  automatic  devices  ap- 
plied to  almost  every  part,  until  at  first  sight, 
the  great  power-looms  of  the  modern  factory 
seem  to  be  machines  with  complicated  princi- 
ples, but  they  are  all  built  on  the  fundamental 
principles  of  the  earliest  weaver. 

When  patterns  of  varied  colors  were  desired, 
or  even  plain  patterns  on  plain  goods  were  de- 
sired, the  arrangement  of  the  heddles  was  more 
complicated  and  there  was  often  a  great  number 
of  them.  In  the  weaving  of  many  patterns,  the 
assistance  of  a  boy  was  required.  He  was  called 
a  draw-boy,  and  had  a  seat  above  the  frame, 
where  he  could  raise  and  lower  the  heddles  at 
a  signal  from  the  weaver.  This  primiti\e 
method  has  been  made  an  automatic  one  and 
patented  in  the  well-known  Jacquard  Loom, 
described   in  a   later  chapter. 


42  The  Linen  Industry 


THE  WEAVER 

The  weaver  sal  by  his  burden 
Waiting  the  work  to  begin, 

Dreamily  throwing  the  shuttle 
Backward  and  forward  between; 

Questioning  much  of  the  pattern, 
Watching  for  it  to  be  seen. 

The  shuttle  was  filled  with  colors, 

Of  ever\'  shade  and  glow, 
Thoughtless,  he  scattered  the  radiance 

Falling  above  and  below. 
The  pulse  of  the  loom  was  beating 

Solemnly  to  and  fro. 

The  throb  of  the  loom  grew  stronger, 
The  shuttle  flew  faster  between; 

One  thread  seemed  a  line  of  shadow, 
Another  a  ray  serene, 

But  the  solemn  loom  wove  together, 
Equally,  shade  and  sheen. 


PROCESSES   OF   MANUFACTURE 

It  is  impossible  to  state  briefly  the  gradual 
development  of  machine  processes,  which  led 
to  the  establishment  of  factories  for  the  pro- 
duction of  linen  fabrics  to  supply  the  demand 
of  modern  social  life.  The  factory,  that  is  the 
manufacturing  plant,  so-called,  which  includes 
the  uses  of  all  kinds  of  machines  run  by  power, 
for  the  preparation  of  the  fibre,  spinning  and 
weaving  of  material  desired,  is  a  product  of  the 
last  century. 

Colleges  or  factories  of  the  olden  times  con- 
sisted merely  of  groups  of  workmen  that  either 
spun  the  thread,  or  wove  the  cloth;  each  series 
of  processes   determined  a   completed  task. 

To-day  the  textile  is  all  manufactured  within 
the  same  plant.  Although  the  industries  of 
this  country  are  fully  developed  and  our  re- 
sources of  production  are  very  large,  yet  to 
study  the  best  manufactures  of  the  finest  linen 
fabrics,  it  is  necessary  to  visit  the  factories  of 
the    "Old    World."     There   are    many   reasons 

43 


44  The  Linen  Industry 

for  this,  the  principal  one  being  the  large  in- 
terests in  this  country  in  cotton  industry  to  the 
exclusion  of  flax;  secondly,  the  great  value  of 
the  product  of  flax  seed  and  its  products; 
thirdly,  the  lack  of  skilled  labor  in  this  country 
for  the  growing  and  handling  of  large  quantities 
of  flax.  The  three  reasons  explain  the  im- 
portation to  the  United  States  of  flax  yarns, 
used  in  the  product  of  linen  cloths;  while  the 
importations  of  the  fibre  are  used  principally 
for  thread,  twines,  and  rope  manufacture, 
also  for  the  cheaper  grades  of  linen.  Ou. 
finest  linens  come  consequently  from  Ireland, 
Germany,  France,  and  other  European  countries. 

For  half  a  century,  Belfast  has  been  one  of 
the  leading  centres  of  the  linen  trade,  and 
through  the  interests  of  the  Royal  Flax  Society 
of  Ireland,  which  received  at  one  time  the  recog- 
nition of  Queen  Victoria  as  well  as  contributions 
from  the  English  government,  the  Belfast  mills 
have  greatly  increased  the  number  of  spindles 
and  send  to  all  the  leading  markets  of  the  world 
their  fine  linens. 

Through  the  courtesy  of  the  representative 
of  the  York  Street  Flax  Spinning  Company,  of 
Belfast,  Ireland,  the  illustrations  here  used  have 
been  obtained,  and  the  difl'ercnt  processes  made 
clear. 


The  Linen  Industry 
The  Factory 


45 


The  processes  of  the  manufacture  of  flax 
vary  with  the  quality  of  the  flax,  and  is  also 
dependent  upon  the  purpose  for  which  it  is 
to  be  used.  To  determine  the  specific  use  and 
purpose  to  which  each  kind  of  flax  fibre  is  best 


Roir.nlNT.    THF    II   w 


adapted  requires  a  long,  practical  experience, 
and  is  of  \alue  to  every  manufacture. 

In  giving  the  following  mill  system,  there- 
fore, only  the  processes  in  general  use  can  be 
discussed,  as  often  modifications  are  made  or 
processes  are  repeated  to  obtain  textile  of  a 
special  quality. 

The    commercial    flax    from    the    storehouse 


46 


The  Linen  Industry- 


supply,  first  passes  to  the  "roughing"  depart- 
ment of  the  mill,  where  the  bundles  are  opened 
and  divided  into  handfuls  of  a  certain  size. 
They  are  then  "squared"  by  being  drawn 
through  a  coarse  comb  or  hand  hackle,  where 
the  loose  ends  and  straggling  bits  of  fibre  are 
combed  out,   the   pieces  left  in  the   hackle  are 


MACHIXE   HACKIING 


removed  by  hand  and  placed  evenly  with  the 
bunch.  This  operation  is  renewed  several  times, 
until  the  lumps,  knots,  and  coarse  tow  have 
been  removed,  the  bundles  opened  up  and 
when  combed  are  laid  carefully  in  cross  bundles, 
and  sent  to  the  machine  hackling  room. 

"Machine  skill  and  practical  experience  are 


The  I.inen  Indiistrv 


47 


required  to  hackle  the  different  kinds  of  flax 
with  the  machines  best  adapted  with  gradation 
and  number  of  hackles,  and  to  regulate  the 
speed  of  sheets  and  head.  Each  bundle  of  flax 
is  fastened  on  a  rod  at  the  top  of  the  machine, 
moving  from  one  side  to  the  other.  Beneath 
the  flax  is  a  revolving  roller,  made  of  slats  on 
which  are   hundreds  of  fine  wire   pins;    as  the 


THE    SPREAn-BOARDS 


wheel  revolves,  it  seems  to  creep  gradually 
up  the  strips  of  flax,  combing  them,  and  strip- 
ping out  the  roughened  ends  and  coarse  fibres. 
This  machine  is  known  as  the  '' hackling  ma- 
chine." The  flax  is  removed  and  passed  through 
this  machine  several  times  if  the  fibre  is  desired 
of  extreme  fineness. 

The  term  "preparing"  is  given  to  the  three 


48  The  Linen  Industry 

different  processes  which  follow  the  hackling. 
The  system  begins  with  the  "spreader,"  or  the 
machine  sometimes  named  the  first  drawing. 
The  bundles  of  hackled  flax  are  placed  on  the 
boards  of  the  spreader,  and  fed  to  the  machine, 
which  draws  them  in  over  between  fluted  rollers, 
and  traverses  a  series  of  hackles;  the  fibre  is 
then  caught  by  a  pair  of  drawdng  rollers,  and 
becomes  a  ribbon-like  form  called  a  sli\er. 
The  machine  has  drawn  out  the  fibres  and  laid 
them  parallel;  as  the  sliver  comes  from  the 
machine  it  falls  into  a  high  tin  can.  Each 
spread  table  usually  contains  six-line  spreaders. 
This  drawing  process  is  repeated  over  and  over 
again  by  placing  several  slivers  together,  form- 
ing and  equalizing  a  smoother  and  more  per- 
fect sliver. 

The  next  machine,  called  the  "roving  frame," 
is  one  of  the  most  complicated.  It  consists  of 
twisting  the  fibre  into  a  ro\e  or  loose  thread. 
This  is  accomplished  by  the  addition  of  a 
bobbin  and  flyer  to  the  drawing  rollers.  The 
bobbin  is  made  to  revolve  with  such  speed  as 
to  wind  up  the  rove  as  fast  as  it  is  yielded  by 
the  last  pair  of  rollers,  and  the  flyer  with  so 
much  additional  speed  as  to  give  the  sliver  the 
desired  twist  while  mo\ing  between  the  roller 
and  bobbin."     If  the  sliver  was  not  twisteid  it 


The  T.Int'n  Industry 


49 


would  not  hold  together  to  jxiss  through  the 
spinning  frame.  1  hese  machines  are  fed  from 
the  cans  which  hold  the  sli\er  from  the  drawing 
frames,  and  for  the  first  time  the  fibre  is  wound 
on  bobbins.      |  ^    S    ^  3 

The  waste  material  that  results  from  the 
drawing  and  roving  machines  is  called  tow,  and 
is    used    for    manufacture    of   cheap    materials. 


Ill;  wvINi;     \\|)    i;ri\IN" 


It  is  prepared  on  carding  machines,  similar  to 
those  used  for  short  staple  fibres  like  cotton. 

Machinery  was  first  applied  to  spinning 
without  the  aid  of  water,  but  it  was  found  that 
the  heat  and  water  softened  the  "greasy  princi- 
ple which  binds  the  cells  together,"  and  allows 
the    thread   to   be    drawn   and   attenuated   to   a 


5° 


The  Linen  Industry 


greater   degree,   as   well  as   making  them   finer 
and  smoother. 

In  the  dry  spinning  frame  the  bobbins  of 
flax  are  arranged  in  rows  in  an  inclined  plane 
on  the  top  of  the  machine.  The  rove  passes 
through  a  first  guide,  then  is  caught  by  nipping 
rollers,   thence   through   drawing  rollers,   to   the 


flyer  which  gi\es  the  required  twist,  and  finally 
to  the  bobbin.  The  machine  for  wet-spinning 
is  similar,  although  the  bobbins  are  placed  in 
a  perpendicular  position  above  the  frame,  and 
the  rove  passes  through  a  trough  of  water 
before  entering  between  the   rollers. 

Napoleon   wishing   to   strike   a    blow   against 


The  Linen  Industry 


the  British  nianutactures  of  cotton,  otilered  a 
reward  of  one  miUion  francs  to  an  inventor  of  the 
best  machine  for  wet  or  dry  spinning  of  flax. 
Phillipe  de  Girard,  hoping  to  avail  himself  of 
the  reward,  patented  machines,  but  receiving 
no  recognition  from  the  French  government, 
accepted  an  invitation  from  Austria  to  estab- 
lish mills  there,  and  for  a  time  was  successful. 


England,  however,  stimulated  by  her  success 
in  cotton  manufactures,  aroused  interest  in  the 
spinning  of  flax,  and  in  1787  two  men  of  Dar- 
lington perfected  patents  that  completed  the 
system  of  mill  spinning  and  firmly  established 
the  production  of  linens. 


52 


The  Linen  Industry 


The  process  that  follows  the  sj^inning  ot  the 
fibre  consists  in  the  doubling  and  trebling  it, 
until  of  required  quality  and  strength.  It  is 
then  reeled  from  the  bobbins  into  hanks.  There 
is  a  law  in  England  that  requires  that  the  stand- 
ard measure  of  a  hank  of  flax  yarn  shall  be  three 
hundred  yards,  called  a  "cut"  or  "lea."     Each 


thread  in  the  hank  is  two  and  one-half  yards 
long.  One  hundred  and  twenty  threads  form 
a  lea.  Thus  when  the  term  "50  lea"  is  used, 
it  means  that  there  are  "50  leas"  of  three 
hundred  yards  each,  in  a  pound. 

The  original  st  ick  of  flax  laid  on  the  feeding 
rollers,    doubled,    drawn    and    extended    in    the 


The  Linen  Industry 


53 


spinning    frame,    produces    from    one    yard    of 
hackled  line,  about  9,400  miles  of  yarn. 

The  hanks  of  yarn  are  carefully  examined 
to  discover  imperfections  in  bad  piecings,  or 
the  formation  of  double  threads,  lumps,  or 
swells;  they  are  also  carefully  counted,  then 
tied    into    bundles.     The    skeins    of    yarn    are 


MACHINK    WARPINt. 


Stretched  across  pegs,  which  hold  five  or  six 
hanks;  they  are  tied  together  in  bundles 
weighing  about  forty  pounds,  termed  a 
"press  bundle."  The  yarn  is  then  ready 
for  the  market  and  is  conveniently  handled 
for  commercial  purposes.  If  the  yarn  is  to 
be  used  in  the  factory  for  weaving  or  finished 


54 


The  Linen  Industry 


thread,   it    is    wound    again   on   large  wooden 
spindles. 

These  spindles  or  spools  are  ready,  either  to 
be  wound  on  bobbins  for  the  weft  of  the  ma- 
terial, or  for  the  warp.  The  latter  threads  are 
wound  on  a  warping  beam  from  an  upright 
frame,   which   holds   as    many   spools   as   there 


HAND    LOOM    WARPING 


are  threads  in  the  given  width  of  the  material 
to  be  woven  —  this  is  called  "warping."  The 
warp  is  frequently  dressed  before  being  woven. 
This  is  done  by  passing  the  threads  through  a 
preparation  of  sizing,  then  over  heated  rollers, 
in  order  that  the  threads  may  be  perfectly  dry 
before  being  wound  on  the  beam.  Another 
treatment  sometimes  given  is  to  pass  the  threads 


The  Linen  Industry 


55 


over  a  cylinder  of  flour  paste,  and  in  a  trough 
of  paste,  which  is  equalized  by  a  series  of  brushes 
in  the  machine,  and  dried  on  steam  heated 
cylinders.  This  preparation  is  to  facilitate  the 
machine  process  of  weaving. 

The  next  process  takes  one  to  the  room  con- 
taining the   vast  number  of  power  looms,  one 


DRESSING    OR   SIZING   THE   WARP 


of  the  seemingly  noisiest  places  in  the  factory. 
It  might  be  conceded  to  be  also  the  busiest  place, 
for  the  shuttles  in  the  great  machines  fly  back 
and  forth  with  such  rapidity  that  their  actual 
flight  can  hardly  be  discerned.  One  notices 
the  rising  and  falling  of  the  machine  lay  as 
it  presses  the  woof  into  place.     This   machine 


56 


The  Linen  Industry 


impresses  one  as  the  culmination  of  all  in\en- 
tions.  Especially  is  this  true  of  the  great 
Jacquard  loom.  No  matter  how  intricate  the 
pattern,  or  varied  the  colors,  this  wonderful 
machine  accomplishes  the  work  with  a  precision 
that   is   certainly   a    perfected  art. 

The  same  principle  is  applied  in  the  power 


-M     \V!    UINl 


loom  that  was  explained  in  the  primitive  loom 
of  the  Russian  peasant  The  many  devices  and 
automatic  appliances,  that  at  first  glance  seem 
to  complicate  the  ordinary  power  loom,  aie 
useful  merely  in  facilitating  the  quantitv  of 
material  woven,  and  the  texture  desired. 


The  Linen   Industry 


57 


The  woven  material  is  placed  next  into  a 
machine,  where  it  undergoes  a  process  termed 
"beetling."  The  material  wound  on  a  roller 
is  placed  in  the  machine,  and  as  it  is  re-rolled 
on  another  cylinder,  a  series  of  arm-like  pieces 
fall  with  force  on  every  part  of  the  cloth,  pound- 
ing and  beating  out  all  of  the  uneven  places 
in  the  goods. 


POWER    LOOM    WEAVING 


If  the  market  calls  for  an  unbleached  material 
it  passes  on  to  the  "finishing  machine,'-  where 
the  gloss  and  finish  are  given  it  by  heavy  rollers. 
But  if  on  the  contrary  the  material  desired  is 
to  be  a  glistening  white,  pure  in  color,  it  then 
follows  a  process  of  bleaching. 


58  The  Linen  Industry 

This  varies  in  every  manufacturing  establish- 
ment, according  to  color  required.  It  is  placed 
generally  first  in  vats  containing  chemical  solu- 
tions best  adapted  for  the  material. 


Bleaching 

The  art  of  bleaching  has  been  known  from 
earliest  ages.  The  different  methods  and  sub- 
stances used  varied  with  ecch  country.  Pliny 
writes  that  the  Gauls  and  Britons  both  under- 
stood a  process  which  he  describes :  *'  They  made 
a  bleaching  soap  of  the  fat  of  animals  and  the 
ashes  of  certain  vegetables."  He  claims  this 
method  was  invented  by  the  Gauls.  The 
people  of  Holland  in  early  times  produced  an 
excellent  cloth,  by  a  treatment  of  buttermilk 
and  lye,  followed  by  washing  in  black  soap  and 
being  spread  on  the  grass  for  two  or  three  weeks. 
The  French  used  a  similar  bleaching  process. 
Some  celebrated  chemists  in  the  last  half  of  the 
nineteenth  century,  experimented  with  chemi- 
cals for  bleaching,  and  applied  chlorine  in  the 
whitening  processes.  Since  then  some  improve- 
ments have  been  introduced,  and  bleaching 
has  become  an  important  branch  of  the  linen 
manufacture. 


The  Linen  Industry 


59 


The  Hnen,  after  remaining  in  the  bleach  vats 
for  a  certain  length  of  time,  is  removed  and 
loaded  on  carts  to  be  carried  to  the  bleach  fields. 
Grassy  meadows  are  arranged  on  purpose  for 
the  process,  called   "bleach  greens." 

There  are  many  bleach  fields  in  the  country 
near  the  factories,  established  and  supported 
by  a  Board  of  Trustees,  with  special  rules  and 


THE    WASH    MILLS 


regulations.  These  fields  vary  in  size  from 
seven  to  twelve  acres.  In  some  instances, 
and  some  factories,  the  bleaching  is  all  done  with 
the  chemicals.  While  the  cloth  is  out  on  the 
grass  it  has  to  have  special  attention,  frequently 
being   dampened   and    turned. 


6o 


The  Linen  Industry 


Upon  the  return  of  the  linen  from  the  bleach- 
fields,  it  is  placed  on  the  scrub-boards,  where 
it  is  washed  and  cleaned  of  all  particles  of  dust 
and  dirt.  Then  a  process  of  blueing  follows, 
and  drying  by  passing  the  material  over  a  series 
of  heated  cylinders.  The  mangling  machines, 
into  which  the  linen  next  passes,  are  built  with 


CARTiN'G  LI^^:^J  to  the  bleach  fields 


heavy  rollers  —  they  iron  and  press  the  linen, 
giving  to  it  the  finish  and  lustre  that  is  its  chief 
characteristic. 

Machines  for  measuring,  folding,  and  finish- 
ing follow:  and  operations  of  labeling  the 
goods  and  packing  are  given  careful  attention 
to  prepare  them  for  the  market. 


The  Linen   Industry 


6r 


The  pnxlucts  of  manufacture  of  the  mills 
have  been  developed  within  a  century  of  time, 
but  their  quality  has  not  excelled,  even  with  all 
the  modern  devices,  the  textures  of  the  ancient 
looms. 

A  machine  made  article  loses  the  marks  of 
the  hand  craft,  while  the  home-spun  is  given 


^^ 


THE    BLEACH    FIELD 


a  charm  of  texture  that  is  individual  with  the 
weaver.  The  same  distinction  that  is  found 
between  the  hand-carved  panel  and  that  made 
by  machine. 

Modern  life  and  its  demands,  with  the  value 
of  time  ever  present,  could  not  be  amply  sup- 
plied with  sufficient   materials   if  the   spinning 


62  The  Linen  Industry 

wheel  and  the  loom  was  exchanged  for  the  great 
organizations  of  machine  processes  and  labor. 
But  nowithstanding  this,  the  value  of  the  fine 
hand  linens  is  greater  than  that  of  the  machine- 
made  to-day,  and  a  piece  of  linen,  even  of  the 
immediate  past  generation,  is  treasured  with 
pride  for  the  skill  displayed,  and  as  a  monument 
of  a  household  industry. 


IV 


FLAX   CULTURE    AND    LINEN    MANU- 
FACTURE IN  THE  UNITED  STATES 

"In  colonial  times  efforts  were  made  to  pro- 
mote the  growth  of  flax,  and  to  introduce  the 
spinning  and  weaving  of  the  fibre.  It  was 
the  policy  of  the  mother  country  to  suppress 
manufactures  in  the  colonies,  but  the  produc- 
tion of  linen  goods  was  a  domestic  industry 
which  England  could  not  and  did  not  try  to 
prevent.  The  cultivation  of  flax  was  under- 
taken on  a  small  scale,  and  the  spinning-wheel 
and  the  hand-loom  were  the  only  available 
machinery  for  working  it  into  cloth.  It  is 
probable  that  there  was  in  America  scarcely  any 
manufacture  of  linen  for  sale— that  which 
was  made  was  a  home  product  intended  solely 
for  consumption  in  the  families  of  the  weavers." 

Dr.  Horace  Bushnell  writing  of  these  times 
in  1 851  says:  "  If  our  sons  and  daughters  should 
assemble,  a  hundred  years  hence,  they  will 
scarcely  be  able  to  imagine  the  Arcadian  picture 
now  so   fresh   in   the   memory  of  many  of  us, 

6^ 


64  The  Linen  Industry 

though  to  the  younger  part  already  matters  of 
hearsay  more  than  of  personal  knowledge. 
The  spinning-wheels  of  wool  and  flax  that  used 
to  buzz  so  familiarly  in  the  childish  ears  of 
some  of  us,  will  be  heard  no  more,  in  fact  save 
in  the  halls  of  the  antiquarian  societies,  where 
the  delicate  daughters  will  be  asking  what 
these  strange  machines  are  and  how^  they  were 
made  to  go  ?  The  huge  hewn-timber  looms 
that  used  to  occupy  a  room  by  themselves  in 
the  farmhouse,  will  be  gone,  cut  up  for  fire-wood, 
and  their  heavy  thwack,  beating  up  the  woof, 
will  be  heard  no  more  by  the  passerby.  The 
long  strips  of  linen  bleaching  on  the  grass  and 
tended  by  a  sturdy  maiden  sprinkling  them  each 
hour  from  her  water  can,  under  a  broiling  sun, 
thus  to  prepare  the  Sunday  linen  for  her  brother's 
and  her  own  outfit,  will  have  disappeared, 
save  as  they  return  to  fill  a  picture  in  some  novel 
or  ballad  of  the  old  time." 

Edward  Stanwood  in  the  Census  Report  for 
1902  adds  to  these  colonial  pictures — -"that 
it  is  extremely  probable  that  the  desire  of  the 
American  people  to  introduce  manufactures, 
thus  supplementing  their  political  with  indus- 
trial and  commercial  independence,  would  have 
led  them  to  engage  largely  in  the  production  of 
linen    fabrics    had    not    the    invention    of    the 


The  Linen  Industry  65 

cotton-gin,  by  Kli  Whitney  (patented  in  1793), 
placed  in  their  hands  a  cheaper  fibre  than  flax, 
more  tractable,  requiring  less  preparation,  more 
easily  spun  and  woven,  superior  for  many  pur- 
poses   and    decidedly    inferior    for    very    few." 

The  domestic  production  gradually  died  out, 
and  the  Congressional  Commission  report  in 
1864  states  that,  "It  is  well  known  that  the  only 
mill  of  this  class  in  our  country  fully  equipped 
for  spinning  and  weaving  fine,  long  line  yarns 
(located  at  Fall  River,  Mass.)  was  after  a  great 
outlay  of  capital  and  immense  exertions  to 
operate  at  a  profit,  converted  into  a  cotton 
mill  at  a  heavy  loss,  in  consequence  of  an  in- 
sufficient home  supply  (of  raw  material),  the 
mill  being  precluded  from  using  foreign  stock 
by  a  practically  interdictive  duty." 

To  a  certain  extent,  this  condition  has  been 
improved,  but  the  fibre  still  grown  in  this  coun- 
try is  not  adaptable  for  fine  linen  yarns  or  fabrics. 
It  has  been  proved  that  the  finest  flax  can  be 
grown  in  this  country,  but  it  requires  skilled 
workers.  Should  the  spinners  of  the  United 
States  establish  local  industries  of  scutching 
mills  in  localties  where  the  farmers  could  find 
a  ready  market  for  the  straw  that  produces 
standard  fibre,  machines  would  soon  be  avail- 
able for  handling  large  crops  and  our  country 


66  The  Linen  Industry 

could  easily  outstrip  the  supply  of  foreign 
markets.* 

Flax  is  cultivated  for  the  fibre  on  a  commer- 
cial scale  only  in  the  eastern  part  of  Michigan, 
in  the  vicinity  of  Salem,  Oregon,  and  near  North- 
field,  Minnesota.  Most  of  the  flax  used  in  the 
manufacture  of  linen  goods  is  imported  from 
European  markets  or  from  Canada.  The 
cheaper  grades  of  flax  fibre  are  used  for  carpet 
yarns,  for  shoe  thread,  toweling,  cordage,  twine, 
jute, burlaps,  and  baggings.  In  many  of  these 
productions,  hemp  and  jute  are  combined  with 
flax.  There  are  one  hundred  and  forty-one 
factories  in  the  United  States  for  this  kind  of 
manufacture;  they  employ  about  twenty  thou- 
sand men,  which  seems  a  small  number  in 
comparison  to  three  hundred  thousand  em- 
ployed by  the  cotton  manufacturers.  The  princi- 
pal factories  are  located  in  Massachusetts, 
New  York,  Pennsylvania,  Connecticut,  New 
Jersey,    Rhode    Island,   and   Wisconsin. 

There  are  fifteen  establishments  for  the 
manufacture  of  pure  linen  goods,  with  a  capital 
of  aboutsixand  one-quarter  million  dollars  (1905). 

United  States  statistics  of  imports  from  the 
Census  of  igoif  are  as  follows: 

*See  United  States  Report,  No.  27  — C.  R.  Dodge, 
tin  1902  the  Department  of  Agriculture  made  its  first  official 
report. 


The  Linen  Industry  67 

Flax  hackled,  known  as  "dressed 

line" 1,481         Ions. 

I'^lax  not  hackled  or  dressed    5,096.83 

Flax,  tow \  ,888.06     " 

Max,  yarns i  ,088,938.00   lbs. 

Twines,    threads,    or    cords    com 

posed  of  flax,  hemp,  or  ramie, 

of  which  these  substances,  or 

eitherof  them,  is  lhecomjK)und 

material  of  chief  value,  in  yarns 

not    finer  than   5   lea  to   335 

lea 491,637.62     " 

Total  value  of  manufactured  and 

unmanufactured  flax  yarns  and 

linen  goods  imported     $  70,476,038.25 


Flax   Seed 

From  one  of  the  minor  industries  of  the 
United  States  in  18 10,  the  cultivation  of  flax 
for  its  chief  product,  linseed  oil,  has  become  one 
of  the  largest.  Linseed  oil  is  used  principally 
for  home  consumption,  while  its  one  by-product, 
lin-seed  oil  cake,  is  a  chief  article  in  the  lists  of 
exports. 

The  crop  of  flax  and  the  industry  of  oil-making 
has  been  defined  as  a  migratory  product,  because 
with  the  development  of  the  West  the  interests 
in  the  crop  have  followed  the  farmmg  interests 
in  new  states  and  territories,  designated  by  the 


68  The  Linen  Industry 

North-western  and  South-western  districts,  the 
former  including  the  crops  from  North  and 
South  Dakota,  Minnesota,  Iowa,  and  Wisconsin; 
the  latter  including  Kansas,  Missouri,  Nebraska, 
Oklahoma,  and  Indian  Territory. 

Only  two  or  three  pecks  of  seed  are  sown 
to  the  acre,  yielding  very  coarse  straw,  but 
large  quantities  of  seed.  There  are  two  varieties 
of  seed  —  one  small-grained,  yielding  from  six- 
teen to  seventeen  pounds  of  oil  to  the  bushel  — 
the  other,  large-grained  seed,  which  yields  from 
eighteen  to  twenty  pounds  to  the  bushel. 

Linseed  oil  is  the  chief  product  of  flax.  Owing 
to  its  drying  properties,  it  is  indispensable  for 
paints  and  varnishes,  having  no  adulterant  or 
substitute  except  corn  oil.  Two  operations 
are  used  in  the  manufacture  of  the  oil,  one 
termed  the  "old  process,"  the  other  the  "new"; 
the  former,  by  hydraulic  pressure,  the  latter, 
by  a  naphtha  process.  In  the  old  process  the 
seed  is  first  crushed  between  high-speed  steel 
rollers  into  a  fine  meal.  The  meal  is  then  heated 
in  reservoirs  either  by  injecting  steam  or  the  use 
of  steam-jacketed  heaters. 

"The  meal  is  then  drawn  from  the  heaters  into 

cake  formers,  machines  which  compress  it  into  a 

.  shape  of  just  sufficient  consistency  to  allow,  by 

careful  handling,  of  its  being  folded  in  a  woollen 


The  T.incn  Industry  69 

cloth  and  placed  in  the  press.  Although  the 
press  is  universally  taken  as  a  uniform  pro- 
ductive unit,  the  presses  in  different  mills  may 
really  vary  in  productive  capacity  according  to 
the  number  of  'plates'  they  contain,  each  plate, 
located  one  above  the  other  in  the  press,  simply 
representing  a  separate  compartment  for  the 
reception  and  compression  of  the  meal  that  has 
been  put  into  proper  shape  by  the  cake  former. 
These  plates  may  range  in  number  from  six- 
teen to  twenty-six  to  the  press,  but  since  the 
usual  and  average  number  is  about  twenty 
plates  to  the  press,  it  is  obvious  that  the  common 
custom  of  estimating  capacity  by  presses  an- 
swers all  comprehensive  purposes.  The  presses, 
massive  pieces  of  machinery,  are  arranged  in 
rows  in  'batteries'  of  either  five  or  six  presses 
each,  and  a  force  of  three  men  is  required  for 
each  battery.  Beginning  at  one  end  of  a  battery 
the  separate  compartments  of  the  first  press 
are  filled  with  the  slightly  compressed  meal, 
powerful  hydraulic  pressure  applied  at  once, 
and  so  on  with  each  press  of  the  battery  in 
succession.  The  operation  of  emptying  and 
filling  each  press  requires  about  ten  minutes, 
and  hence  it  is  apparent  that  in  a  battery  of 
six  presses  each  press  is  under  pressure  for 
an   hour,   the   oil    meanwhile   flowing   from   the 


70  The  Linen  Industry 

presses  into  tanks.  At  the  expiration  of  that 
time  the  hydrauHc  pressure  is  taken  off  from 
the  press  first  filled,  and  now  hardened  oil 
cakes  removed  from  between  the  plates,  the 
press  refilled  with  meal  and  the  other  presses 
emptied  and  refilled  in  the  same  way  in  suc- 
cession, and  so  on  indefinitely.  The  oil  is  then 
forced  through  filter  presses  for  the  purpose  of 
removing  mucilaginous  substances  known  as 
'foots,'  after  which  it  is  placed  upon  the  mar- 
ket as  raw  oil;  or,  after  filtration,  its  drying 
properties  may  be  increased  by  boiling  and  the 
simultaneous  addition  of  litharge  or  other  dryers, 
in  which  case  it  is  known  to  commerce  as  boiled 
oil.  Numerous  brands  of  refined  oil  also  re- 
sult from  various  processes  of  refining." 

The  "new"  process  is  a  chemical  one,  the 
oil  being  extracted  from  the  seed  by  the  action 
of  the  volatile  solvent,  naphtha.  As  in  the  old 
process  the  productive  unit  is  the  hydraulic 
press.  In  this  process  the  distinctive  feature 
is  the  percolator,  a  huge  iron  tank  with  a  capac- 
ity for  holding  about  three  thousand  bushels 
of  seed.  The  flax-seed  after  having  been  crushed 
into  meal  as  in  the  old  process,  is  dumped  into 
the  percolators,  and  flooded  with  naphtha.  The 
naphtha  having  an  affinity  for  the  oil,  extracts 

♦United  States  Report  Flax-seed  Production,  1902. 


The  Linen  Industry  71 

it  from  the  meal,  and  after  the  requisite  length 
of  time  is  drawn  off  through  a  valve  in  the  bottom 
of  the  percolator,  a  common  product  of  lin- 
seed oil  and  naphtha.  The  naphtha  is  then 
evaporated  and  condensed  for  further  use, 
and  there  is  left  the  commercial  product,  lin- 
seed oil.  The  "by-product"  is  a  meal  which 
is  dried  and  deodorized  and  used  as  a  food  for 
cattle. 

The  entire  crop  of  flax-seed  for  the  year  of 
iQOo  was  estimated  at  25,805,000  bushels;  about 
fifty  per  cent  of  this  was  grown  in  South 
Dakota.  The  yield  of  oil  from  this  amount  is 
also  estimated  at  about  67,500,000  gallons,  while 
the  product  of  oil  cake  is  at  least  one  thousand 
million  pounds. 

The  Great  Lakes  are  the  centres  of  the 
product,  which  have  Duluth,  Superior,  and  Chi- 
cago for  their  principal  markets,  largely  owing 
to  their  water  facilities. 

The  oil  cake  is  the  chief  product  for  exporta- 
tion, but  it  has  a  limited  demand  in  the  United 
States.  It  is  considered  a  valuable  food  for 
cattle  and  is  largely  consumed  in  the  milk  and 
stock  farms  of  Northern  Europe.  The  princi- 
pal ports  of  the  export  are  those  of  the  United 
Kingdom,  Denmark,  Belgium,  France,  and 
Germany. 


72  The  Linen  Industry 

Some  of  the  other  products  manufactured 
from  the  oil  are  linoleum,  oil  cloth,  oil  silk, 
printe.s'  ink,  and  patent  leather. 


FLAX 

The  flax  was  in  bloom;  it  had  pretty  little  blue  flowers 
as  delicate  as  the  wings  of  a  moth  or  even  more  so.  The 
sun  shone  and  the  showers  nurtured  it. 

"People  say  I  look  exceedingly  well,"  said  the  flax,  "and 
that  I  aril  so  fine  and  long  that  I  shall  make  a  beautiful 
piece  of  linen.  How  fortunate  I  am!  It  makes  mc  so 
happy;  it  is  such  a  pleasant  thing  to  know  that  something 
can  be  made  of  me," 

One  day,  some  people  came  who  took  hold  of  the 
flax  and  pulled  it  up  by  the  roots;  this  was  painful;  then 
it  was  placed  near  the  fire,  as  if  it  were  to  be  roasted. 
''We  cannot  expect  to  be  always  happy,"  said  the  flax, 
"for  by  experiencing  evil  as  well  as  good,  we  become 
wise."  It  was  steeped,  roasted,  and  combed.  At  last 
it  was  put  on  the  spinning  wheel.  "Whir,  whir,"  went  the 
wheels,  so  quickly  that  the  flax  could  not  collect  its 
thoughts. 

"Well,  I  have  been  very  happy  and  must  be  contented 
with  the  past,"  and  contented  he  remained  until  he  was 
])ut  on  the  loom,  and  became  a  beautiful  piece  of  linen. 
"Well,  this  is  quite  wonderful,  I  couki  not  imagine  that 
I  should  be  so  favored  by  fortune  —  after  all  I  have 
suffered,  I  am  made  something  of  at  last,  I  am  the  luckiest 
person  in  the  world — so  strong,  so  fine,  and  so  white.  I 
have  a  great  deal  of  attention  every  morning  —  the 
makl  turns  me  over  and  sprinkles  me,  and  the  clergy- 


The  Linen  Industry  73 

man's  wife  noticed  mc,  and  said  1  was  tlie  best  piece  of 
linen  in  the  whole  parish.  1  cannot  be  happier  than  1 
am." 

After  some  time  the  linen  was  made  into  garments.  The 
flax  then  said,  "Now  1  shall  be  of  some  use  in  the  world 
as  everyone  ought  to  be  —  it  is  the  only  way  to  be  happy." 

Years  passed  and  at  last  the  linen  was  so  worn  it  could 
hardly  hold  together.  At  length  they  fell  into  tatters 
and  rags,  and  they  were  made  into  ])ulp  and  dried,  and 
found  themselves  beautiful  while  pajx'r.  Well  this  was 
a  glorious  surprise.  The  paper  said,  "I  am  now  finer 
than  ever,  I  shall  be  written  upon,  and  who  can  tell  what 
fine  things  1  may  have  written  upon  me."  The  most 
beautiful  stories  and  poetry  were  written  upon  it.  People 
heard  the  stories  and  poetry,  and  it  made  them  better 
and  wiser.  "I  never  imagined  anything  like  this," 
said  the  paper,  "when  I  was  a  little  blue  flower  growing 
in  the  fields.  I  supjiose  now  I  shall  be  started  upon 
travels  around  the  world."  But  the  paper  did  not  go  on 
travels,  it  was  sent  to  the  printer  and  all  the  words  written 
upon  it  were  set  up  in  type  to  make  hundreds  of  books. 
This  was  certainly  the  wisest  plan,  for  if  it  had  gone  out 
into  the  world,  it  would  have  been  worn  out  before  it  had 
gone  very  far.  Then  the  ])a])er  was  tied  with  a  bundle 
with  other  ])apers  and  thrown  into  a  tub  that  stood  out 
of  the  way.  "After  work  it  is  well  to  rest,"  said  the 
paper.  "What  will  Ije  done  witli  me  now  —  I  shall  go 
forward."  One  day  all  the  paper  was  taken  from  the 
tub  and  placed  on  the  heartli  to  be  Ixirnt  up. 

'Ugh!"  cried  the  paper,  as  it  burnt  into  a  bright  ilame. 
It  was  certainly  not  very  pleasant  to  be  burnt  up,  but  the 
flames  mounted  into  the  air,  higher  and  higher  than  the 
little  flax  plant  had  ever  been,  and  they  glistened  as  the 
white  linen  had  never  glistened. 

"Now  I  am  mounting  straight  up  to  the  sun,"  said  a 
voice    in   the    flames,  and  the  flames  darted  up  through 


74  The  Linen  Industry 

the  chimney  and  out  at  the  lop,  and  the  httle  voice  said, 
"The  song  is  never  ended,  the  most  beautiful  is  to  come." 
—  Translated  from  Hans  Anderson 

Other  Fairy  Tales 

Flax  Leavings. 

The  Lazy  Spinner, 

The  Spindles,  the  Needle,  the  Shuttle. 

The  Three  Spinning  Fairies. 

(See    Grimm's   P'airy  Tales,  translated  by    PauU  and 
Wheatley). 


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